For thousands of years, a multitude of different methods, devices, chemicals and apparatus have been employed in an effort to clean uneven and irregularly shaped surfaces, cracks, crevices, indentations and the like. These approaches have ranged from the primitive, e.g., wetting a leaf or a user's hand with saliva or water and rubbing or wiping away dirt, to using rags, wipes, swabs or scrub brushes, with or without water, ammonia or alcohol based solutions, to clean the surface. The objective has been to provide a single article (or method) for rapid, effective cleaning, disinfection and/or purification of virtually any surface geometry, whether characterized by rounded or squared surfaces, peaks and valleys, cracks and crevices or the like.
While such approaches have been useful, limited progress has been made in surface cleaning, namely, providing an article and a method that is not only economical and relatively effortless to use, but is also effective and not damaging the surface. To compound this challenge, detailed, unusually shaped, man-made surfaces have erected new barriers and added to the complexity of cleaning uneven surfaces.
Perhaps the best known item for cleaning uneven surfaces and variable geometries is the conventional bristled brush, which is moved back and forth against the surface desired to be cleaned. While relatively effective and reliable for some surfaces, particularly those of relatively small variation in height and depth, irregular surface geometries and the physical and dimensional restrictions posed by bristles have limited the effectiveness of brushes for cleaning electronic devices. In addition, the abrasive qualities of bristles (whether plastic or organically based) have often been found damaging to materials typically used in the construction of electronic devices such as molded plastics, laminated surfaces, brushed metallic surfaces and decals. Furthermore, shedding characteristics of most bristles are not only annoying to the user, but can also necessitate an additional cleaning step.
In an attempt to avoid surface abrasion and shedding, sponges have also been utilized. While generally effective for bringing cleaning solutions into contact with the surface to be cleaned, sponges usually provide little or no scouring effect, nor are they suitable for reaching into, and removing debris from, cracks, crevices and surface valleys. Furthermore, their superior ability to retain fluids often allows excessive amounts of cleaning solution to leak onto surfaces of electronic devices and, in turn, come into contact with the sensitive electronics below.
More recently, specialized wipes and swabs have been developed for cleaning electronics. They often include cotton or a polymeric based fiber material soaked in alcohol or like antistatic solution. Wipes, e.g., those sold under the name Fellowes Computerware® or The Texwipe Company, are encased with a selected volume of solution in an airtight dispenser or sealed packet, and dispensed for one-time disposable use. Similarly, and perhaps the most long standing approach is the use of a cotton rag dipped in water, alcohol or an ammonia-based solution to cleanse, disinfect and/or neutralize static electricity on surfaces of electronic devices.
Although wipes and rags have proven helpful for cleaning with little abrasion, their flat wiping surface is unsuitable for many variable geometry surfaces, at least without the user expending much time, skill and effort. In this connection, the user must frequently use his/her muscle, fingernails, and ingenuity to shape, twist and bend the wipe/rag into a configuration suitable for cleaning various surface shapes and depths. Rags are readily washed and reused, but their use with water is considered undesirable for cleaning and potentially damaging to sensitive electronics often located below the surfaces being cleaned. Hence, specialized solutions are needed to insure their effectiveness. As for wipes and swabs, they have been found impractical and time consuming for cleaning large surface areas, are generally suitable for one-time use only, and require specialized chemicals for effective dirt removal. The user must also purchase a new supply when he or she runs out, making wipes and swabs an expensive, inconvenient and cumbersome option.
In an effort to eliminate these drawbacks, pressurized gas, air or the like has also been used to blow dirt and debris from oddly shaped, complex surfaces. For instance, Dritz® Precision Duster III, a product of Prym-Dritz Corporation, provides a canister containing a liquid/gas mixture stored under pressure that is selectively emitted from a flexible, narrow tube. For removing dust and loose debris from keyboards and ventilation grills of computers, which are known for their numerous crevices and other difficult to clean surfaces, high velocity gas has been found relatively effective. Similarly, battery powered, rechargeable, and/or AC vacuum devices have been employed to draw away dirt and debris. Economic considerations and practical restrictions in the respective gas velocities and suction that may be delivered, however, as well as their limited scouring effect has made them useful for little more than dust removal.
More recently, relatively soft bristled brushes, e.g., toothbrushes, with variable length bristle patterns have been developed for cleaning uneven surfaces. Tooth sponges in wavy patterns have also been provided for this purpose. While beneficial for cleaning plaque from rounded tooth surfaces and between teeth, these cleaning arrangements, in being designed specifically for teeth, are non-versatile, having been found generally unfit for application to the unique geometries, surface characteristics and dirt associated with electronic devices. Moreover, these brushes are designed for use in conjunction with cleaning compositions that are pasty, abrasive and difficult to remove without flushing the surfaces being cleaned with water. In the case of tooth sponges, leakage of fluid and their ineffectiveness for cleaning in cracks and crevices has likewise made them highly untenable.
An article and a method are, therefore, desired that not only effectively clean, disinfect and/or neutralize static on uneven, variable geometry surfaces, but also allow surface cleansing to be done simply, economically, and relatively effortlessly.